Long time coming
by Aeria
Summary: A tag written after IPpt2


Long time coming.  
  
Disclaimer: it's midnight here, but you know, whatever I put on my other stuff.  
  
Rating: I dunno, read it and work it out. Very tame, probably a PG, it does deal with suicide, but well, PG  
  
  
  
Nothing, nothing had happened. Six monens after Talyn's crew had rendezvoused with Moya, and since then, Aeryn had barely spoken to anyone, especially not to John. John had kept his distance, he hadn't pushed. But there had been no progress what so ever, if he hadn't known better he would have said that their relationship had gotten worse.  
  
She'd avoided him, scowled at him when they had seen each other and it seemed that every time he passed the cargo bay, Aeryn worked out in, he could hear her belting the crap out of her punching bag.  
  
He'd been to D'Argo and Pilot but they'd both said to wait, Chiana and Rygel weren't any help and neither was Jool. That left Crais and Stark who had recently called home from his expedition to find Zhaan's spirit.  
  
John figured Crais wouldn't know what to do as he was obviously also after Aeryn, and not doing very well at it. Not to mention the fact that Crais didn't really like John.  
  
He didn't think that Stark would be much help either, but then he was desperate and it couldn't hurt to try. Right?  
  
John lay on his bed, his arm sprawled across his face using it to shielding his eyes from the star light coming in through his window. He ticked off the names in his head, finally reaching the conclusion to go and find Stark.  
  
"Pilot," he said activating his comm, "What time is it?"  
  
"Commander," he replied, "It is around about an hour since the end of the sleeping period."  
  
"Thanks man."  
  
John rose and went off in search of the Banik. He arrived at his quarters and peered in. Stark was sitting with his back against the wall muttering under his breath to himself.  
  
"Stark," John yelled into the room. "Can I come in?"  
  
"John? How can I help you?" Stark stuttered out in his normal tone as John waltzed in casually to sit on an empty chair by the wall.  
  
"Dunno if you can." He watched as Stark nodded for him to continue, then taking a full breath of air, he plunged into it, "Ok, here's the deal, I've done, nothing, just as everyone, hell even me, suggested I do. I haven't pushed Aeryn in the slightest. But, I'm getting sick of it, I've talking to everyone, and now it's your turn. What the frell should I be doing?"  
  
He looked to him as Stark seemed to be having an internal war with himself, "No, Yes, No, Yes," he began muttering to himself, moving his hands about as his eyes flicked about the room, looking for an answer. "Yes," he yelled suddenly as he jumped up and raced over to John.  
  
"What man? Calm down."  
  
"John, John…her locket, look in her locket!" he said frantically.  
  
"What? Her Locket? No, I've seen what's in there, just dusty rubble," he said, wondering what had gotten into his companion's mind this time.  
  
"What, no. She does, she does, she does."  
  
"Stark. What in the living hell?!" John jumped up tipping the chair over on his way. "Enough is enough!"  
  
He stormed out of the room at a sprint headed towards Aeryn's cargo bay.  
  
  
  
The minute he heard the slam of fists against leather he yelled, continuing to run, "Aeryn, I'd hide and I'd hide good!"  
  
For a frightful moment, Aeryn thought that the Scorpius clone had taken over John's mind again. Then she couldn't quite identify why, but she heard the seriousness and humanity in his voice and realised, this was all John.  
  
She looked around for somewhere to hide, but found nowhere and so stood in the middle of the room.  
  
He stormed around the corner, his hair ruffled, looking tattered and dirty he stopped in the doorway, staring at her, shorts and tank-top, sweating, her hair sneaking free of her tight ponytail.  
  
"John," she said holding her hands out in front of her, trying to calm him.  
  
"What Aeryn?" he snarled. She'd never heard him snarl, not at anyone, and defiantly not at her. "Answer!"  
  
"Calm down, please," she whimpered, recognising the rage as unstoppable and revenging.  
  
"No, you have left my hanging for six monens Aeryn and sure, maybe it's been hurting you, but you never ever have given a damn about my feelings and I realise now that you never will."  
  
"John, I never meant for…" she was cut off as he moved towards her.  
  
"Do you realise, you probably just spoke more words to me that you have in the last six monens? Why couldn't we just stay friends or shipmates? Aeryn?"  
  
"John, it's not that I don't love you," her voice quavered as she saw his eyes glint with rage.  
  
"Love? Aeryn don't be so incredibly stupid. You don't know what love is!" He moved towards her tightening his fists as he prepared to swing.  
  
"I do! You taught me!" she burst out, unable to help herself.  
  
"Taught you, I don't remember doing that," he said sarcastically, "Oh wait, that other dude, the other me, he taught you. Right?" she nodded dumbly. "If you refuse to accept me as him, then why do you keep getting us confused?"  
  
"I do know you him," she said, raising her voice to match his.  
  
John leaned towards her, trying to tower over her, while using only his extra few inches. "Then why, Aeryn, why don't you let me talk to you, get to be close. Develop at least a little, tiny, winy bit our relationship?"  
  
Aeryn shook her head, mouthing wordlessly.  
  
"Hmmm? No? Nothing?" John looked to her one last time and that muttered, "Well then, Goodbye. I'm leaving."  
  
"John? Where are you going," Aeryn called as she watched him walk slowly, his head down in defeat, towards the door.  
  
"Going to go and fly around in that bucket of dren."  
  
"John, don't do anything stupid," she called, worried, all of a sudden.  
  
"I will, Aeryn, but you don't care anyways," he muttered as he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.  
  
Aeryn sat down on the ground, resting her head on her knees. She silently thought to herself. "Ah, give it up, Aeryn, you're either going to end up together or he's going to die trying," she said to herself after a long think.  
  
She was just standing up when Pilot's voice came over her comm., his tone urgent, "Aeryn! Please come to command now."  
  
"Pilot what's wrong?" she questioned, already knowing and at the same time dreading the answer.  
  
"It's John, he seems to be flying towards the star."  
  
Pilot's sombre and honest response floated through one ear and out the other as Aeryn raced towards command, to witness her one true loves' death, again.  
  
  
  
She entered command to find the rest of the crew, watching fearfully as John's module approached the burning gas of the star.  
  
His voice was floating through everyone's open comms. "Well, that's Rygel and Chi done, D man, I'll miss ya and I have to thank you for all the good times and for helping me through the bad times. Jool, well I didn't know you for long, but I figure, you would have grown on me. Crais, well…thanks for all that stuff in the budong, you know that eventually got me and Aeryn together, or so Stark tells me. Stark, that's a lot for everything and since I can here you muttering in the background that this is your fault, it's not. And since, I wouldn't let you guys get Aeryn, tell her it wasn't hers either. It's my own. Never should have let myself get cut in two.  
  
"Well, nice knowing you all. Wish I knew why Aeryn can't look at me, but hey, maybe I'll see you all on the other side."  
  
No one tried to stop him. Everyone slowly looked to Aeryn as she felt a tear roll down her shivering cheek. When all she could do was look at them with a sorry expression on her features, they visibly slouched over and saddened.  
  
Aeryn watched as John's module continued to fly towards the sun. She was startled out of her wits when Pilot's voice came over her comms, "Twenty microts until impact."  
  
Aeryn looked helplessly around her. "Eighteen microts." Her hand lifted to a position over her own comms. "Sixteen microts." Her slim fingers twitched in anticipation as she looked for one last time for any options she might have over looked. "Fourteen microts."  
  
"John," her voice was raspy, "Don't."  
  
His module clearly slowed. "Why," his answer echoed around the room as everyone ceased to breathe.  
  
"Because I think…I AM in love with you," she said boldly.  
  
"Not enough Aeryn, why do you keep me at a distance?"  
  
Aeryn looked around for help. She found none. "Because, I'm…scared." Everyone's heads cracked around, Rygel tried to do so – so fast that he went flying off his thrown-sled.  
  
Aeryn was nervous and embarrassed, two new feelings. So she talked, "I'm scared that you'll go off and get killed just like you did last time. I'm scared that you will leave and I won't be able to live without you."  
  
By now, Crichton's module had stopped moving. "Aeryn, there's always going to be that risk, even if you didn't admit that you love me, you'd still miss me if I disappeared. You know that."  
  
John turned the module around and started racing back towards Moya, doing loops on the way. By the time he'd docked Aeryn had sprinted down to meet him and was waiting there panting as the others jogged along, probably still only half way.  
  
"Aeryn," John said as he exited the Farscape, "I love you."  
  
Aeryn tilted her head to the side, feeling the relief wash over her. She smiled to herself as John finished his walk to her. He slipped both his arms around her waist and tugged her tight to him. She leaned in for a kiss to find him shying away. "What," she asked.  
  
"Say it."  
  
"John," she began defiantly, "I love you too."  
  
With that he swept her up into his arms for a deep and passionate kiss that told of many happy days to come and the two of them couldn't have felt happier no matter what.  
  
By the time the rest of the crew arrived, John had Aeryn pinned against the wall, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as he assaulted her neck and jaw line, all the while giggling at each other's eagerness.  
  
D'Argo raised his eyebrows and turned Chiana around and gave her a light push in the opposite direction and was then stunned to see Rygel sitting there grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"I do believe you owe me a box of food-cubes, my friend," he said.  
  
"What?" D'Argo queried.  
  
"That bet, I said six monens, go check with Pilot, you owe me a box."  
  
With that Rygel zoomed off without so much as a stupid joke about body breeders nor a release of gas. 


End file.
